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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Summertime in Northern Michigan!

We are currently vacationing in Alpena, Michigan, on Lake Winyah. It is a nice, calm lake with beautiful sunsets and lots of marshy areas. I am unable to post pictures (only brought my iPad with me) until I get home, but here are some life birds for me so far:

Double-Crested Cormorants: Lots of these everywhere! A local on the boardwalk of the Alpena Harbour identified these for me. We have seen at least a dozen or more daily! On our way out to Mackinac Island, there were at least 20 of them mixed with some gulls on the rocks near the docks.

Caspian Tern: Through out the majority of the day, you can find one or two of these birds perched on logs in the water...in the same spot, all day. They fly off if a boat or paddler gets to close, but ultimately returns.

Northern Flicker: Finally! I got to see three interacting together. First let me tell you how I came to find them.....I was having a dream that I had to pick up a superworm (don't ask..) and in my dream, when I grabbed it, it started squealing like a ginuea pig. It startled me out of my sleep, but I still heard the sound. I grabbed my binoculars, still in my pj's, and headed outside to see what on earth was going on. I thought for sure some poor animal was in harms way. Following the sounds, I see three flickers in the trees, making all kinds of squealing sounds without opening their mouths! I have seen them every morning since :) Watching them interact was quite amusing!

Woodpecker: I am not sure what kind of woodpecker I saw this morning...It may have been a Hairy Woodpecker. I got a fairly brief view of it before it flew off.

Merganser: I saw several mergansers swimming together, but until I take my pictures off my camera, I cannot tell which kind.

That's it so far....I am not actively birding (my family finds it dreadfully boring), but I am keeping my eyes and ears open. I have heard what sounds like loons, but haven't seen any yet. There are lots of bird sounds I don't recognize, so I am hoping to add a few more before the week is up:)

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About Me

I am a recently "retired" homeschooling mom of two children. My son is now in College and we made the decision this year to send my daughter to high school for grade 10. I enjoy reading, birdwatching, and learning about photography. This blog is a more like a diary of my birding experiences and some of my favourite bird photos. Take a look around...comment if you like something :)
Please leave me a comment and do correct me if I've misidentified a bird.